Turkey

The murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, founder and managing editor of the weekly Agos newspaper, is still under investigation in Turkey. But despite arrests last month in the eight-year-old case, Dink's family and colleagues are worried justice will still not be served.

Protests against the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdowere held in Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Middle East and parts of Africa over the weekend, as crowds demonstrated against the magazine's portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad, according to news reports.

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Last month, a delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists and the International Press Institute met with senior Turkish officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, and Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ.

"The European Commission expressed serious concern about developments in the area of rule of law and fundamental rights (in Turkey)." It is progress report season in Brussels. As every year in early October, the commissioner in charge of enlargement unveils documents that judge the progress of all candidate countries in adopting European Union (EU) laws and standards, and Turkey is at the forefront.

Reuters editor-at-large Harry Evans had a question for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: Would he be willing to meet with a delegation from the Committee to Protect Journalists and the International Press Institute (IPI) when it visited Turkey?

In less than a week, Turkish voters will cast their ballots
in local elections widely seen as a test
of support for embattled Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has faced
growing questions about official corruption since a high-level probe first
became public in December. Although many observers believe Erdoğan will survive
the current
political crisis , the prime minister's increasingly autocratic
posturing has given rise to questions about his long-term political
viability.

The
Turkish parliament is on the verge of voting on radical censorship measures
that, if approved, would allow the government to block individual URLs without
prior judicial review, mandate Internet data retention for periods of up to two
years, and consolidate Internet Service Providers (ISPs) into a single
association, among other changes. If passed, the amendments to Turkey's already restrictive Internet law would compound a dismal record on
press freedom in the country, which is the leading jailer of journalists worldwide.
Unsurprisingly, the proposed amendments are causing outrage among free
expression activists and journalists in Turkey and around the world.

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For
the second year in a row, our prison census
shows, Turkey
jailed more journalists than any other country. The number of journalists
behind bars is 40; down from the 61 reporters in October 2012, and less than
the 49 we recorded on December 1, 2012. Still, Turkey
holds more journalists in custody than Iran, China, or Eritrea.

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Turkey is hardly a press freedom paradise, but what makes
the country so exciting for journalists is the amount of news it generates on
any given day. The domestic story is huge, with near-daily street protests, the
booming economy beginning to sag, and the prospect of regional conflict looming
with Syria. And Istanbul is a base for the international press covering not
only Turkey but also Syria, Iraq and Egypt.